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2006 Trincomalee massacre of NGO workers
The 2006 Trincomalee Massacre of NGO Workers, also known as the Muttur Massacre, took place on August 4 or 5, 2006, when 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF) were shot at close range in the city of Muttur, Sri Lanka, close to Trincomalee. The victims included sixteen minority Sri Lankan Tamils and one Sri Lankan Muslim. Incident When the bodies were discovered the town of Muttur had come under the control of the government forces. There was fierce fighting between government forces and rebel LTTE forces the previous week prior to the discovery of the bodies. Reactions SLMM The Sri Lankan government denied responsibility but the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission suspected that the Sri Lankan Army was responsible for the killings. According to the SLMM, " ... is convinced that there cannot be any other armed groups than the security forces who could actually have been behind the act. The head of the Mission, the retired Swedish Colonel Ulf Henricsson said that this was "one of the most serious recent crimes against humanitarian aid workers worldwide". Action Against Hunger Action Against Hunger, the non-governmental organization (NGO) for whom the victims worked, termed it a war crime Investigation In September 2006, under increasing pressure from the international community to investigate this incident, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse announced the formation of a Commission of Inquiry with a mandate to look into 15 specified alleged violations, including the Muttur massacre of ACF staff. With the dubious track record of previous Commissions of Inquiry in mind, a group of bilateral donors negotiated for the formation of a group of International Independent Eminent Persons (IIGEP) that, invited by the president, have the mandate to observe the investigations of the Commission of Inquiry. Australia nominated an Eminent Person (EP).Eminent Australian Jurist to Assist Human Rights Inquiry in Sri Lanka UTHR Report On April 1, 2008, the organisation University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), which is run by former teachers at the University of Jaffna — known to be openly critical both of the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka — released their "Special Report #30",UTHR Special Report # 30 which exclusively deals with the massacre of ACF staff. UTHR names one member of the Sri Lankan Home Guard — now the Civil Defence Force — and two Police Constables based in the Muthur Police Station as perpetrators, but adds that several Sri Lanka Navy Special Forces were part of the group that entered the ACF compound and remained passive as the ACF staff were murdered.Report details S.Lanka aid massacre, blames forces See also * List of massacres in Sri Lanka * List of attacks attributed to Sri Lankan government forces * List of attacks attributed to the LTTE References External links *World concern worker shot dead *BBC report on the murder of fishermen *BBC, Military killed aid staff *ICJ report on Muttur massacre *IIEG public statement 2007 *Aid agency concerned about the investigation NGO workers Tricomalee Category:Human rights abuses in Sri Lanka Trincomalee Massacre Of Ngo Workers, 2006 Category:Sri Lankan government forces attacks in Eelam War IV NGO workers